Chapter 58 Keeping by your side

Jingzhou, night.

A hundred thousand foreign troops stormed the city gates, and a fierce battle lasted for five days. The blood flowed like a river, and the corpses piled up like a mountain.

At this time, the foreign king Qu Pingye led the army personally. He was probably the most typical and admired warrior in the eyes of the foreigners, with a fierce face, a body as strong as an iron bull, and exaggerated muscles so strong that they could support a huge bear skin.

"Your Majesty!"

Someone came to report quickly, with a look of panic and anger.

"Five days ago, while the king was attacking Jingzhou, Helu Bei actually led his army to attack Yanzhou and succeeded! Even now, he is leading 80,000 troops here, and he will arrive in about two hours."

"What?!!!"

The man's alien tongue was filled with anger.

He turned his head suddenly and looked at the ladders stacked on top of the city wall. They were densely covered with warriors of their foreign race. After five days of bloody siege, Jingzhou could only fight like a trapped beast and was about to be broken.

As long as Jingzhou is destroyed, Liangzhou will be the only isolated place left in the north. Then it will be easy for Changji to march straight into the heart of Dazhou.

Seeing victory within reach, how could Qu Ping be willing to retreat at this moment?

"Sida, take 30,000 warriors and rush to Jingyun Pass immediately to set up obstacles and delay the enemy for another three hours!"

Jingyun Pass is a must-go pass from Liangzhou to Jingzhou. The terrain is very dangerous. It only takes half an hour to pass through here. If the terrain is used properly, it will not be difficult to block the enemy.

"yes!"

The alien king was furious, his beast-like brown eyes were filled with murderous intent. He suddenly drew out the giant sword from behind him and pointed it directly at the city gate.

"Pull up the catapult for me, and get ready to throw fireballs!!!"

Originally, these catapults were prepared to be used to attack Liangzhou, which was guarded by Helu Bei. Since the death of Duke Wei, Qu Pingye noticed that Helu Bei was different.

The dragon he personally raised actually had the intention of betraying his clan!!!

Forty catapults were lined up in a row, and stones weighing dozens of kilograms were poured with hot oil and then set on fire.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The next second, dozens of fireballs smashed into the city like meteorites. In an instant, the earth shook and mountains trembled, fire broke out, and wherever they passed, rocks were destroyed and pillars were cracked, causing endless screams.

They specifically targeted the food camps and military camps in the city, as well as the places where civilians lived. In a matter of moments, the entire city was engulfed in flames, with soldiers howling and children crying.

At this time, Qi Shoubang personally led his troops in a desperate battle on the city wall. The sky was filled with flames, illuminating the dark night like day. Before he could come to his senses, he felt the earth shaking and the sky collapsing.

He turned back blankly, his eyes bloodshot.

At this moment, Qi Shoubang saw with his own eyes that the city was in chaos, with raging fires all over the city, like a purgatory on earth.

But Qi Shoubang had no time to grieve, because Qu Pingye's first round of stones were fireballs, and the second round of stones would no longer be filled with oil and set on fire, but instead the huge rocks weighing hundreds of pounds would be covered with poison.

This is what happened when Yanzhou fell. They are best at using those sinister schemes.

Just when he was angry and furious,

"General Qi!!!"

At this time, his trusted lieutenant came on horseback to report the news, his tone full of surprise.

"General Yun Fei recaptured Yanzhou five days ago. Now he is leading 80,000 reinforcements. They will arrive in two hours!!!"

The northern border is vast and there are threats from foreign races, so the news of the recovery of Yanzhou did not arrive until five days later.

"Yanzhou was taken back by Yun Fei?!!"

Shock, joy, resentment, shame, a series of complex emotions flashed through his mind, and finally Qi Shoubang immediately gave the order.

"Quick! Pass this message down quickly, and order everyone to fight to the death to hold on for another two hours!!! Even if there is only one person left, we cannot let the foreigners in!!!"

"yes!!!!"

Amid the deafening vibrations, the voices of the two people talking were almost high enough to break.

Although Qi Shoubang looked down on and even hated that half-blood foreigner who was born a slave from the bottom of his heart, he could not care less at this critical moment.

Qi Shoubang had guarded the northern border for many years. He was there when Yanzhou fell. He saw with his own eyes what happened when the foreigners entered the city.

It is a thousand times more bloody and tragic than the chaos in the city right now.

However, when the deputy general was rushing to deliver the order, Qi Shoubang suddenly stepped forward and grabbed the man.

"Madam...Madam, have they evacuated?"

Facing a powerful enemy, he shouldn't just care about his family, but at this moment of life and death, Qi Shoubang couldn't help but ask one more question.

The deputy general was covered in blood. He was stunned for a moment, but quickly replied,

"General, rest assured, Madam and the two young masters have all retreated safely to the inner city."

"That's good... That's good..."

Qi Shoubang murmured.

He closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, he was filled with hatred and murderous intent. He swung the bloody knife suddenly.

“Kill him!!!”

At the command, countless soldiers rushed onto the city wall, and behind the city gate below were wounded soldiers and corpses who had no fighting power left. They blocked the city gate and used their bodies as the last barrier.

In just half an hour, both sides killed each other, corpses were everywhere, and wailing was deafening.

However, at this moment, when a ray of light appeared in the east, a majestic and loud horn suddenly came from the distance, and its sound rose to the sky and split the sky.

The next second, tens of thousands of sharp arrows fell like heavy rain, covering the sky and the earth.

Amidst the rain of thousands of arrows, three cold lights appeared in an instant and went straight towards the alien king.

"Your Majesty, be careful!!!"

Several guards around Qu Pingye immediately put up a huge heavy iron shield.

Bang bang bang!

The three arrows actually pierced through the thick shield and pierced into the heart and lungs.

The blood spurted out by the guards splashed all over the alien king’s face. He suddenly threw away the corpse in front of him, furious—

"Helubei!!!"

But after he shouted, the rain of thousands of arrows that followed forced him to hide behind the huge heavy shield erected by the guards again.

"Your Majesty!"

The heavily-armed army behind him instantly fell into chaos.

But before they could react, large numbers of Northern Iron Cavalry and hundreds of chariots appeared from nowhere on the left and right wings, and attacked the foreign army with a force of thunder and lightning, charging and killing in all directions, unstoppable.

Qi Shoubang stood blankly on the city wall, and saw a familiar figure in the distance, a black horse with a long spear, a red cloak for hunting, and his iron armor reflecting the rising sun, shining like snow.

At such a long distance, he couldn't see the other person's face clearly, but Qi Shoubang saw the familiar, cold iron divine weapon.

——Heaven-breaking Halberd.

In a trance, he seemed to see the man who was feared by the aliens and called the Devil General.

"My Lord..."

But Qi Shoubang soon came to his senses.

Jiang Yi had died a long time ago. He watched with his own eyes as the man whom he had only looked up to was chopped off his arm by Qu Pingye in the chaos of the army, and died holding the flag in the sea of ​​blood and corpses at Guibian Cliff.

His father's revenge was finally taken that day, but Qi's defense of the country was not as satisfying as he had imagined.

Jiang Yi died so magnificently and beautifully that all the soldiers in the northern border and even the people of the entire Great Zhou will remember him.

Remember his achievements, remember his greatness,

Keqi Shoubang's father also died at Guibian Cliff, but no one remembers it.

No one remembers...

However, the war situation is tense at the moment, and Qi Shoubang does not have much time to recall the past. Now Yun Fei leads the army to rescue, and the foreigners on the tower can only retreat one after another.

He narrowed his eyes.

The time to counterattack has come!!!

At the same time, Zhou Huaiyan was preparing to catch turtles in a jar at Jingyun Pass.

This was a plan that had been set up long ago. From the moment he took over the Yun family and started building ships, everything that happened today was already a foregone conclusion.

He brought two thousand personal soldiers with him, plus the eight thousand Northern Iron Cavalry that Ah Fei gave him, which was more than enough.

At this moment, 30,000 soldiers from the foreign race were rushing over, ready to block the so-called reinforcements.

Zhou Huaiyan put down the telescope and signaled to the people around him.

"General Wei, we may begin."

"yes!!!"

Wei He, armed with iron armor and a fierce sword, immediately hurried down the mountain.

A moment later——

Five hundred mines exploded one after another at Jingyun Pass!!!

Even though they were standing a thousand meters away, they still felt the terrible vibration.

Compared to the stones thrown by the foreigners just now, the situation now is really earth-shattering and the ground is shaking.

"Your Highness is very smart and everything is as expected."

Hongdou bowed her head respectfully, her heart already filled with admiration and submission.

Even though she couldn't see the battle in the distance, the Omiya was extremely excited at this moment. Although the military strength was 3:1, Hongdou had already determined her victory.

“This is just the beginning.”

Zhou Huaiyan's face was cold.

"Only 30,000 yuan, just treat it as target practice."

As soon as he finished speaking, the sound of gunfire began to be heard at Jingyun Pass.

Two thousand men, two thousand guns, plus five hundred mines. In the end, let the eight thousand iron cavalry fight on, and the victory or defeat will be determined.

When Zhou Huaiyan was five years old, he realized that Emperor Zhou's murderous intention could not be eliminated no matter what, so he began to think about making a gun.

However, due to the limited technology of the time, if he wanted to mass-produce, the most he could do was to make a musket similar to that of the Qing Dynasty in his previous life, with a range of a hundred meters at most. If he wanted to pursue accuracy, it would only be within fifty meters.

However, it was enough to deal with the foreign races who were still in the era of cold weapons and even blindly worshipped physical strength.

Just as Zhou Huaiyan expected, the moment the landmine exploded, the leading alien general was killed on the spot, and the rest were leaderless and in chaos.

They had never seen such weapons before and did not even consider them as weapons. Instead, they thought they were being condemned by the gods. Many of them immediately threw away their weapons and knelt down to beg for forgiveness from the gods.

Such an army has basically collapsed.

,

After the two thousand personal soldiers fired a round with their guns, the eight thousand Northern Iron Cavalry rushed down and slaughtered them cleanly like pigs and sheep.

In just one hour, the Battle of Jingyun Pass was over.

When Zhou Huaiyan passed by in his chariot, the Wei generals were already organizing the cleanup of the battlefield.

"Your Highness..."

Wei He, who was in his fifties, suddenly knelt beside him, his tone trembling with excitement, and even tears streaming down his face.

"Great Zhou...has Your Highness, and it is a blessing for all the people."

Zhou Huaiyan was not a great man with a broad mind. He did not have any special reaction to this. He just gave a cold order.

"Check carefully and leave no one alive."

If one or two deserters were allowed to go, they would definitely report what happened today to Qu Pingye, and the other party would be prepared. However, whether they were prepared or not would not make any difference to the final result.

But Zhou Huaiyan was still used to being cautious, to the extreme.

Ever since Wei He was sent by Zhou Huaiyan to Jiangnan to supervise shipbuilding and gun manufacturing two years ago, he has been devoted to him. Now that he has received orders, he will naturally do his best to carry them out.

"yes!!!"

Zhou Huaiyan glanced at Ye Lingyun, who was covered in blood in the distance. She was killing people one by one. After the incident in Yanzhou, the other party refused to be incorporated into his personal guard team, and instead joined the Northern Border Iron Cavalry with a sidekick.

However, Zhou Huaiyan just glanced at her and passed by. Ye Lingyun had chosen her own path, and she would have to walk it alone in the future.

"Go to Jingzhou."

Zhou Huaiyan retracted his gaze.

"According to the time, it should be over there."

"yes."

Hongdou agreed.

......

The red sun rose slowly, Qu Yuan led his troops to retreat, and the blood-stained city gate of Jingzhou welcomed the reinforcements.

Zhou Huaiyan sat on the chariot and followed the mighty army into the city. As the general defending the city, Qi Shoubang was naturally at the front to greet them.

Although Jingzhou suffered heavy casualties, the battle was a victory and reinforcements had arrived. No matter what Qi Shoubang thought, he would naturally hold a banquet to entertain them in the evening.

Ignoring the rules, Zhou Huaiyan sat in the main seat at the top. He changed into a slightly thicker brocade outer shirt, but still wore a plain white, overly exquisite and gorgeous look, which made him out of place among a group of iron-blooded soldiers in armor.

Although this move was inappropriate, General Yun Fei and Qi Shoubang did not say anything, so naturally no one else dared to say anything.

After all, if no one came to rescue Jingzhou, the owner of the city would have changed before dawn.

Finally, Qi Shoubang raised his wine cup.

"Thank you, His Royal Highness the Ninth Prince and General Yun Fei, for coming all the way here today to save the people of Jingzhou from the dire situation."

Zhou Huaiyan supported his face with one hand, lowered his eyes and did not respond, but just asked,

"A Fei, today is the day since I arrived in the Northern Territory?"

The majestic and handsome young general bowed slightly to him.

"To reply to your Highness, the sixth day."

"The sixth day..."

The handsome young prince murmured softly, casually playing with the wine cup in his hand, and suddenly sneered.

Bang!

The delicate white porcelain suddenly fell to the ground and shattered.

The sound was like a thunder, exploding in everyone's ears!

"Someone come!"

Zhou Huaiyan's eyes were icy cold and full of hostility

"Catch this traitorous thief for me!!!"

Wow——

A huge change occurred, and the swords were unsheathed in an instant, across the necks of all the Jingzhou generals.

Qi Shoubang was treated like an animal, with Ah Fei smashing his head to the ground, bleeding profusely.

The hall, which was filled with the joy of victory just now, was suddenly filled with tension and blood.

Everyone was stunned by this sudden change.

Qi Shoubang's head hit the ground, and the sudden sharp pain made his brain go into a mess. It took him a long time to react.

"Zhou Huaiyan!!!"

He yelled, struggling madly but ultimately unable to break free, like a mad bull locked up.

"When did I ever commit treason?! Stop spitting blood at me!!!"

"Oh......"

Zhou Huaiyan sneered and waved his hands

"Hongdou, go and bring up his wife and children."

"Zhou Huaiyan! You are despicable and shameless!!!"

Qi Shoubang's eyes turned red as if his scales had been touched.

"Whatever hatred you have, come at me! Women and children are so innocent!!!"

Zhou Huaiyan did not answer, but just watched coldly as the panicked woman and two frightened children were brought up.

Qi Shoubang's wife, named Lin Yuxi, was from Jingzhou and had a gentle personality.

but--

That's just on the surface.

Zhou Huaiyan raised his hand casually, and Hongdou beside him took a new wine glass, filled it, and placed it between his fingers.

The handsome prince tasted the wine slowly, and after a long while he spoke slowly,

"If you tell the truth, I will kill you. If you don't, I will kill your two children..."

Zhou Huaiyan turned to look at the two children and smiled softly.

"—Sudden execution."

As soon as the words fell, the woman with tears streaming down her face suddenly widened her eyes in fear. The others all looked confused and surprised.

Because Zhou Huaiyan used a foreign language,

The only people in the entire hall who could understand what was said were Ah Fei and the woman in front of him.

After waiting for a while, seeing that the other party pretended to be calm and did not respond, Zhou Huaiyan chuckled, raised his head and drank the wine in the glass.

despair.

The moment the wine glass fell on the table, Hongdou took out a dagger and walked forward, dragging the woman out of her arms with an expressionless face.

When the crying child was pulled out of her arms, Lin Yuxi collapsed and screamed

"NO!!! DON'T!!!!"

"You devil! You will die a miserable death!!!"

In fear, she also shouted in a foreign language.

Qi Shoubang was stunned in the midst of his frantic struggle. Even his face, which had just turned red with anger, turned pale at this moment.

At this moment, Zhou Huaiyan waved his hand and Hongdou returned behind him.

"Qi Shoubang, I know that your father died in the battle at Guiduan Cliff. He died for the people of the Great Zhou."

He slowly poured himself a glass of wine.

"And you, who have guarded the northern border for many years, hate foreigners to the core, so even if you have resentment and hatred towards Duke Wei, you will never let the foreigners kill him."

The prince, dressed in white, sat lazily on the high seat, his pale face flushed with a faint blush.

"So, when I heard that you had lost the Cliff of Demons, I thought about it for a long time, but I couldn't figure it out... I couldn't figure it out."

"But if you didn't lose it on purpose, then someone else did something wrong."

Zhou Huaiyan looked at the woman who was holding the child but was as still as a corpse.

"You rescued her from the hands of the barbarians, right? When you were guarding Guiban Cliff, she followed you, right? After you lost the defense, she told you that Duke Weiguo led his army to stop them, and asked you to stay in Jingzhou to guard against the barbarians, right?"

The Ninth Prince laughed.

"She even told you day and night that your father died for the country and the people, but the only one that everyone can remember is Duke Wei Jiang Yi, right?"

With every word Zhou Huaiyan spoke, Qi Shoubang's face turned paler.

There is no other reason, because every word the Ninth Prince said is true.

The Jingzhou generals present were his subordinates who had followed him for many years, so they naturally knew all this. They were not fools, and after a little thought, they knew the truth behind it.

Jiang Yi's death was not an accident. Even Qi Shoubang unknowingly became the knife used by his enemy to stab his own people.

They looked frightened and angry, and some even went crazy and wanted to chop the woman to pieces.

Having guarded the northern border for so many years, he had witnessed so many vicious methods used by the foreign races. Qi Shoubang even knew about the other party's human-snake plan.

But I didn't expect that I would become a knife in the hands of my enemy.

“Ridiculous…hahahahaha…too ridiculous…”

Qi Shoubang had a cut on his forehead and was now smiling with blood all over his face, looking like a madman.

Zhou Huaiyan raised his eyes.

"Wei He, bring the person up."

Qi Shoubang turned around and saw a familiar yet strange old figure coming in.

"...Uncle Li?"

Li Chengyin, an old subordinate of Qi Guolie, was the one who brought the news of Qi Shoubang's death back to his home and also sent him a pension.

"Shoubang, you are so confused!!!"

The old man came over and punched him hard several times.

"If I had known that you would think this way, and that you would hate me so much, I should not have agreed to the Duke's request."

Qi Shoubang stared at him blankly, his voice trembling.

"...What do you mean?"

The old man's eyes turned red.

"Back then, it was your father Qi Guolie who made the wrong decision. He ignored the Duke's advice and insisted on his own way, which led to him falling into the trap of the alien race. The two of them were trapped in the Ghost Cliff at the same time.

Your father, Qi Guolie, took the initiative to propose a break and died with the foreigners in order to atone for his mistakes. After the Duke broke through the siege, he immediately brought reinforcements to hold the critical pass. "

His face was covered with tears and he punched Qi Shoubang on the shoulder again and again.

"In order to protect your father's reputation, the Duke asked us not to tell anyone about this matter and adopted you as his son. But you actually hated him for so many years! And you did such... such an ungrateful thing!!!"

Qi Shoubang was stunned for a long time, then suddenly he grabbed the old man by the collar and questioned him with red eyes,

"No! No way, you lied to me!!! Were you all threatened by Zhou Huaiyan? Were you all bribed by him!!!"

Things have come to this point, and there is no point in watching any further.

Zhou Huaiyan stood up, turned around and left. He seemed to be drunk and his steps were a little unsteady.

Ah Fei glanced at Qi Shoubang coldly, gave a few instructions to the deputy general beside her, and immediately followed quickly.

Zhou Huaiyan walked up to the tower, feeling the cool breeze. The waving ribbon behind him fluttered with his black hair, and in the flickering lights, his profile was so beautiful that it seemed almost unreal.

"Your Highness..."

"A Fei, look, this is how the world is. Good people never have a good ending."

The young prince sneered.

"Someone once said, just do good things and don't worry about the future, but what is my uncle's future? What is my mother's future?

Others only see their dignity and glory, their wealth and splendor, and the threats they may pose..."

"My uncle fought for this country all his life. His father died on the battlefield. His beloved sister was killed by his loyal king. His adopted son became his life-threatening knife..."

Zhou Huaiyan suddenly covered his eyes and laughed.

“That’s ridiculous, that’s ridiculous, hahahaha…”

"Don't you think he is too stupid? How can there be such a stupid person in this world?"

"......"

Ah Fei was silent.

He had seen all kinds of smiles from young people, careless, teasing, mean, cold...

Many, many.

But the first time I looked at him, he was clearly smiling, but it looked more like he was crying.

"Owner......"

Ah Fei stretched out her hands beyond the rules to hug him. Now, he already had a broad enough embrace to embrace all his thorns.

"Zhou Huaiyan, Huaiyan..."

Ah Fei softly called the name of her beloved boy and said in his ear,

"No matter what, Ah Fei will do it for you."

The deception he had once done had completely excluded him from Zhou Huaiyan's heart. Now he could only work a thousand times harder than before to get back in.

For him I fought with swords and spears, for him I risked my life.

[On this bloody road to revenge, Ah Fei will clear all obstacles for you. ]

The young and handsome general turned his head slightly to kiss the ninth prince's wet eyelashes.

Then, he bit his lips fiercely. He even grabbed his throat.

"You are here, can you pity me?"

"No......"

The handsome man licked the blood from the corner of his lips, his voice low and hoarse,

"A Fei loves you."

"......"

Zhou Huaiyan looked at him deeply, then pushed him away, speaking in a cold tone.

"I used to treat you as just a plaything."

But the latter suddenly grabbed his waist and pressed closer.

"That means that Ah Fei's body is very much favored by His Highness,"

He lowered his eyes to look at Zhou Huaiyan's face, his burning gaze seemed to be real.

"Your Highness can keep me by your side in the future..."

"——have some fun."

"......"

Zhou Huaiyan widened his eyes slightly, actually shocked by his shamelessness.

The author has something to say:

Humph! To deal with a proud and arrogant person, you can only play straight!